Stop the War demonstration to greet Gordon Brown in Manchester

A national Stop the War demonstration will greet Gordon Brown in Manchester on 24 June as he is officially anointed as Tony Blair’s successor at the special Labour leadership conference.

Across Greater Manchester, local Stop the War groups have been petitioning to publicise the protest and to demand that Brown commit himself to bringing the troops home.

Activists are also organising transport from across Britain.

Rebecca Townesend from Tower Hamlets Stop the War in east London told Socialist Worker that the demonstration is important to keep the question of Iraq at the top of Brown’s agenda.

“The war is Blair’s real legacy, even if he is trying to avoid it,” she said. “We have to make sure that Brown is held to account from the beginning.”

Activists in Scotland are also putting on transport. Jamie Allinson, a student at Edinburgh university, told Socialist Worker, “In Scotland we have a new first minister from the Scottish National Party (SNP).

“They were elected on a manifesto of opposing the war and opposing Trident replacement. Building for the Manchester demo is also about keeping the pressure on the SNP to deliver.”